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2: Experimental Methods

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There is a wide range of methods available for testing and characterizing polymers.

  • 2.1: Polymer Density
    Polymer samples usually are irregular in shape, making it difficult to measure their volume directly. There are four routine methods for determining the density of a polymer55. In the PCOL polymer project we will use one of these methods, called pycnometry. The density can be used to calculate the percent of a polymer that is crystalline.
  • 2.2: Tensile Testing
    In a tensile test, a sample of known dimensions (including thickness) is held between two clamps. As the sample is stretched, the force exerted by the instrument and the length (and sometimes cross-sectional area) of the sample are measured.
  • 2.3: Differential Scanning Calorimetry
    A differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) measures the amount of energy (heat) absorbed or released by a sample as it is heated, cooled, or held at a constant temperature56. DSC has become the method of choice for quantitative studies of thermal transitions in polymers.

Contributors and Attributions

  • David Whisnant (Wofford College). Partial support for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation's Division of Undergraduate Education through grants DUE #9950809 and DUE #9950296. Additional support was provided by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation.


This page titled 2: Experimental Methods is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by David Whisnant.

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